Harold Lewis "Corky" Valentine (January 4, 1929 – January 21, 2005) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who worked in 46 career games in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

as a member of the 1954 and 1955

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

. Born in

Troy, Ohio Troy is a city in and the county seat of Miami County, Ohio, United States, located north of Dayton. The population was 26,305 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city in Miami County and the 55th largest city in Ohio; it is part of the Da ...

, Valentine threw and batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

and was listed as tall and .

Career

Valentine entered professional baseball in 1948 in the Cincinnati farm system. After spending three years in the low

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

, and missing 1951 and 1952, he led the 1953

Sally League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(2.11) and helped the Columbia Reds win the league championship. The following year, he made the parent Redlegs' regular-season roster. Taking a turn in Cincinnati's

starting rotation R rabbit ears :Indicates a participant in the game who hears things perhaps too well for their own good. A player who becomes nervous or chokes when opposing players or fans yell at or razz them is said to have rabbit ears. Also, an umpire ...

, he appeared in 36 games as a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

, with 28 starts. His 12 victories put him in a three-way tie (with

Joe Nuxhall Joseph Henry Nuxhall (; July 30, 1928 – November 15, 2007) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, primarily for the Cincinnati Reds. Immediately after retiring as a player, he became a radio broadcaster for the Reds f ...

and

Art Fowler John Arthur Fowler (July 3, 1922 – January 29, 2007) was an American pitcher and pitching coach in Major League Baseball. The , right-hander was signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent before the 1944 season. He played for the C ...

) for most on the Redleg staff, and he paced all Cincinnati pitchers with three

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

; he also threw seven

complete games In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

, second-most on the club. However, plagued by arm miseries,Powell, Kay (24 January 2005): "Corky Valentine (obituary),"
'' Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' Valentine was demoted to the Redlegs' Triple-A

Havana Sugar Kings The Havana Sugar Kings were a Cuban-based minor league baseball team that played from 1946 to 1960. From 1954 until 1960, they belonged in the Class AAA International League, affiliated with Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds. Their home ...

affiliate after May 29, 1955. He never returned to the major leagues. In May 1956, Cincinnati traded him to the Milwaukee Braves, who assigned Valentine to their Double-A club, the

Atlanta Crackers The Atlanta Crackers were Minor League Baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966. History Atlanta played its first ...

. He spent the rest of his career in the Braves' system, retiring in 1959 after ten pro seasons. Remaining in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, he entered law enforcement and community policing as member of the

Atlanta Police Department The Atlanta Police Department (APD) is a law enforcement agency in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. The city shifted from its rural-based Marshal and Deputy Marshal model at the end of the 19th century. In 1873, the department was formed with 2 ...

, then the Fulton County Police Department,Rose, Steve (10 June 2011): "View From a Cop: Remembering the 'Good Old Days' and Corky Valentine," Patch.com
/ref> where he was commended for apprehending three armed robbery suspects. He retired from the force in 1992, and died in Roswell, Georgia, of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

at age 76 on January 21, 2005. In his 46 big-league games (including 33 starts), he posted a 14–12 won–lost record and a 4.81 career earned run average. In addition to his seven complete games and three shutouts, he was credited with one save among his 13

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

appearances. Valentine allowed 240 hits and 76 bases on balls, with 87 strikeouts, in 221

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

innings pitched. In Hank Aaron's autobiography, ''I Had A Hammer'', Aaron recalls Valentine as being the most ornery character in the league: ''"I’m not saying he was a racist; I think Corky Valentine just hated everybody."'' Aaron writes that ''"(t)he scary thing, though, is that he eventually became a policeman somewhere in Georgia. That’s enough to make you drive fifty-five."''

References

External links

1929 births 2005 deaths Atlanta Crackers players Baseball players from Ohio Cincinnati Redlegs players Columbia Reds players Havana Sugar Kings players Major League Baseball pitchers Muncie Reds players Ogden Reds players People from Troy, Ohio Rockford Reds players Seattle Rainiers players Sunbury Reds players Wichita Braves players American expatriate baseball players in Cuba {{US-baseball-pitcher-1920s-stub